Top Originators 2011: #1: 2011 Most Years in Business

Bob Molnar, First Mortgage Corp #1: 2011 Most Years in Business FHA-Volume Rank: #29 Years in Business: 33

When you’ve been in the mortgage industry for more than 33 years, you see a lot of changes, and you get a little perspective on what the industry is really like.

“Compared to what we had, this is easy business,” Bob Molnar says. “You get a credit report in 9 seconds. Everything is e-mailed to you.”

As the most-tenured member of this year’s Top Originators lists, he remembers when you had to wait weeks for a credit report. And while the more-stringent regulations may have thinned the ranks of those working in the industry, Molnar says it has helped to eliminate those who weren’t knowledgeable about the mortgage business. “I have an incredible staff now,” he says. “The best I’ve ever had. Everyone knows what they’re doing here.”

What Molnar did was close more than $18 million in Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans with First Mortgage Corp. in California this past year. “From 1993 to 2000, all I did was FHA, and I never thought I’d be doing it again,” he says. “But the product we have here is pretty amazing.”

He closed 103 loans in 2011, totaling more than $20 million in overall volume, and he hopes to do as many as 200 loans this year. Molnar primarily focuses on the purchase market. “If you want to stay in this business a long time, it’s the only way to go,” he says. He also strives to meet every borrower face to face and explain how the process works. But perhaps the largest part of his success comes from enjoying his job. “I have a blast at what I do,” Molnar says. “This is all I’ve ever done.”